Appcelerator / IDC Quarterly Mobile Developers Survey Released

A lot of talk has been present about Microsoft being in third place overall (market share, apps, developers etc. combined), attempting to catch Apple and Google. A recent survey released by IDC shows a trend for the mobile OS group with developer interest throughout 2010/11 - Microsoft is yet again third.

Although we are ahead of RIM at the last point, we should put away the celebration packs of goodies due to the interest percentage for WP7 falling below what the platform had this time last year. Blackberry suffered a heavier fall and thus WP7 comes out tops, notably due to the Nokia partnership (which will hopefully boost developer interest once they bring handsets to the table).

Also included in the report is a fragmentation chart displaying what developers are most concerned with. Android is a known pray to OS and hardware fragmentation, something which WP7 hasn't had (yet, I've touched wood). The most concern is reportedly skill fragmentation, however.

So overall, WP7 is still playing the slow catchup and I doubt anything will alter until Nokia devices come into the spotlight, or a good number of contracts end soon and customers wish to go to WP7.

I notice a lot of posts mentioning that a certain thing may garner developers attention. I find this odd. Because the wp7 marketplace has everything I could want in a smartphone (except a good IM solution of course). And with IM+, Kik, Skype, n others on the way.... It makes me ask what else do we really need?Last years mantra was "developers, developers, developers". Well they came through and we thank them. But this years should be "customers, customers, customers"!

I think Mango is the key to getting developers excited. Providing multitasking, faster runtime, and better access will greatly improve developer's interest in the product.The trial piece is great also compared to having to write 2 different apps (a free and paid version) for iOS.

"Microsoft is yet again third"....Richard, you say this like it's a 'bad' thing. Geez! The platform has been out for less than a year, and to be third, behind the two largest platforms that had been on the market for years, is commendable.

Well it's not so much as a suggestion that it's ridiculous how we're third, but the frustration of how we could be should NoDo have been successfully among other things. I'm content with how the platform is performing, but to shut up all the negativity and critics, we have to do better.

Actually, as soon as Microsoft permitted AT&T to dump their bloatware **** into the OS during this first update, Windows Phone 7 officially became fragmented. So far, Apples seems to be the only OS maker capable of keeping the carriers' hands out of the pot and ruining the OS itself.

wrong.at&t adding bloatware in does not fragment an operating system. If done correctly it shouldn't even delay the release of an update.Windows phone isn't officially fragment or fragmented period. Bloatware doesn't fragment an OS if one day i pick up my windows phone and its running mango and yours is running release B and someone elses has C then its fragmented (like we see with android where some are running 1.6 still) that is what fragmentation is.also, if you dont like it then dont buy att phones.

@michael.ball Every piece of carrier software on EVERY Windows Phone is can be completely uninstalled like any other app. Plus carriers can only have 5 apps max loaded.Anyone who actually has a Windows Phone 7 *knows* this.

I'm always cautious of charts like this. What does it really mean? For example, of those interested developers, how many are really game changers? Do you find more developers in favor of iOS because they're small time and think more people will DL their stuff? Are all the "big important" developers already on WP7?TL;DR Stats are fun.

I guess when more people actually buy a WP7 phone, instead of talking about it, devs would get interessed because there is a bigger market then.Stores are still advising Android phones, not WP7 phones. And to be honest, for your average Joe, it might be best if he buys an Android. That phone you can cary in your pocket without it shutting down.No really, MS had the moment but lost it completely. When released, the OS showed this great potential. I own a Mozart now for a while, and I still love the simplicity of it. BUT!!! I also start to get annoyed about those simple easy to fix little things that are not what they should be. Those should have been fixed with NoDo, but they are not. And with all I read about Mango, it still won't be fixed then.It's like Vigor posted: Customers, customers customers. MS should start to look at threads like here on WPCentral and fix those things: http://forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-7-os-talk/176677.htm Some will be hard to fix, others are probably easy. For example, a phone shouldn't turn itself off when carried inside your pocket! It's a phone!!! How can you expect stores to push a WP7 phone? They also want happy customers. Average Joe doesn't want to go the "www" all the time to check things out.And that NoDo update disaster doesn't give me much hope for the future. It's like somewhere, somehow Microsoft got the real thing, and now lost focus. Is there perhaps some new guy on top off things?

Oh comon...First, the Seattle times highlights that"Appcelerator helps Web developers build mobile apps, but does not support building for Windows Phone 7"and then from the Appcelarator website with the full report they themselves say."Appcelerator and IDC surveyed 2,760 Appcelerator Titanium developers "So as they only surveyed developers that use Appcelerator Titanium ,which in turn does not support Windows Phone 7 it's hardly surprising WP7 shows poorly in the interests of those developers.Shoddy work folks...